“I said empty your mind. Be formless, shapeless, like water. Now you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.”

He is urging us to be adaptable to any situation. Every situation is different, and as such, demands a different response. What works in one may not work best in another. Don’t be constrained by any one system or doctrine. For example, you need a hammer to drive a nail, but you wouldn’t use it to remove a screw. You would use a screwdriver instead.